Page 127 of House of the Raven
Little Princess.
Little Princess.
Little Princess.
“Take off your cowl.” I hate the way my voice trembles, the way my knees threaten to shatter and leave me wasted on the floor, another broken thing part of the destruction.
“As you wish, little princess.” In one swift motion, he grabs the top of the hood and yanks it off his head.
The sight of him is like a physical blow, a fist to my gut, a hammer blow to my chest. My heart cracks with the impact. I nearly bend over, and it takes all my strength to remain upright.
It’s Bastien.
Bastien with a scar running from his hairline to the middle of his cheek.
Bastien with lustrous onyx hair, as shiny as Cuervo’s.
Bastien with pointed ears.
Bastien, a fae.
39
VALERIA
“We will lift them from the depths of their ignorance.”
Habid Elharar - Moro Scholar - 120 BV
My vision blurs. A painful knot forms in my throat, and I can’t swallow it down.
River is Bastien.
Bastien is River.
“Now,” he says, his voice a couple of octaves lower than the one I’m used to, “give me the amulet.” He puts his large hand out. The same hand that caressed me, the same hand that touched my most intimate places and made me quiver.
“H-how could you?” I whisper, the question barely audible even to myself.
“You know well what you hold in your hand, princess. You’ve done everything in your power to keep it to yourself. I’ve done all in my power to retrieve it.”
“It was all a lie.”
“You are extremely naïve for someone who grew up…here.” He makes a dismissive gesture toward the broken pieces of Nido all around us.
His words shatter my heart a little more, spider web cracks spreading and wrapping around the aching muscle.
None of it was real. All along he was after The Eldrystone, lying in wait until this moment.
Danger lurks. Ready yourself. He only said that because he was planning this.
“You’re vile,” I say. “Worse than Orys.”
There’s a slight tightening around his eyes, but it doesn’t last. He blows air through his nose in fake amusement to deliver a bad joke. “I suggest you compare notes with your sister before you decide who is worse.”
“I hate you.”
He’s unflinching, his mouth thin as a shard of glass. His hard expression tells me these words mean nothing to him.
